Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Ruminations on beans


I’m trying to get out of my bean rut, which is a trifecta of canned chickpeas, black beans, and pinto beans. Last week I received my order from Rancho Gordo. I ordered 4 lbs of heirloom dried beans (4 different varieties) and a bag of wild rice from them. Over the weekend, I made a pot of Flor de Junio beans (pictured). I cooked the beans with some onions and garlic and added chili powder at the end. I’m eating them for lunch this week over brown rice, with some fresh salsa and avocado on top. This is a great lunch which keeps me full and happy. The beans have a better texture than canned pintos (which they resemble), but I haven’t noticed that the flavor is much different. Maybe the Rio Zape beans will have a more distinctive flavor. Fun bean fact: the Rio Zape bean was re-discovered during an archaeological dig!

I also wonder: is $5/lb an outrageous price for beans? It’s much more than a bag of dried Goya beans at the store, but since bean-based dishes are always relatively cheap, I think I can live with that.

1 comment:

Theresa said...

My bean rut is a duet of cannelini and borlotti beans. Once in a while we spice things up and use chickpeas, or lentils. I'm jealous that your bean rut includes black beans and pinto beans--they are only available in small Asian shops here, and they are AU$10/kilo!